Looks like four solid players. You seem to be the best player there, or at least you seem to me to be playing better than the others in these vids. Would I be correct in supposing that you are the best singles player of the group? Anyway, looks like your hard work and attention to detail is paying off.

Hey Tom! Happy holidays to you too (and everyone else)! Been playing on that court since I was 8 years old! Lots of memories there

The best player there by far is the guy in dark blue. Multiple open doubles championships. Roomful of trophies, from a family of tennis champions. Hit with Newcombe when he was a junior (said newk's serve was like a bolt of lightning). We would never even be on the same court with him back in the day. Classic serve and volley player. Age has brought him to our level...and he's not even playing too seriously there.

Well the arm is getting better. Had a short hit today, making sure I was loose and hitting nice rally balls. Occasionally a bit too much independent arm movement, but I'm just happy I'm hitting pain free

OK so I gave the arm a 2 month rest, it feels really great. But... I gained weight

Anyway, finally back out there, hopefully more regularly from now on.

Did a systems check on the forehand, somehow the PTD improved (probably all the shadow swinging at home and pretty much everywhere)...light hitting drills from 3 angles, then some more movement at the end, running around the backhand.http://youtu.be/ap_hWqwElE8

The backhand was solid as usual, just needed some tweaking with the timing (started out hitting late)...and my slice seems to have more bite in it.http://youtu.be/E3oMypvgmCs

I didn't expect that video to be much help, but what it ended up doing was it shifted my focus into that contact area, and the accelerated right to left brush across the ball. I think I was too obsessed with getting the off right. And that shift of focus brought instant pop to my forehand!

After the excellent low backhand volley.
You move to service line position, hit a low backhand approach short and right to your opponent's forehand.
Then, you back it up with a low volley short and right to your opponent's forehand.
Bad tactics, if you ask anyone.

You would not need to hit a tough service line overhead if your first approach shot was wide to the opponent's backhand side, then your next volley wide to the opposite corner.
Instead, you would find your opponent huffing and puffing, asking for a break in play to regain his breathe and heartbeat.

Play the backhand side.
Make the opponent MOVE for his passing shot attempt.
NEVER play a short low approach that doesn't move your opponent. He has all day to decide topspin lob, short CC dipper, DTL fast past, or hit directly into your right hip pocket.
Most players below 5.0 don't have good backhand passing shots, especially if they run over to the ball. They tend to slice lob, if anything, so you can stay a step back around 2' inside your service line.

Now that's the sidespin that will send the ball tailing out on an inside out forehand. How do I hit the ball curving the other way, a la Rafa?

Another thing that helped quite a bit is...mustering up the courage to actually go for the ball with intent. Hit it near the top of the bounce, and really want the forehand. I realize under pressure I had been shifting the other way, preferring to hit my better backhand. Same with returns, I was hoping they would serve to the backhand. Reversing that mentality really helped out.

This is off a tangent.
What I see is, you are not prepping nearly early enough. Instead, you are trying to time the speed of the incoming ball, and take the racket back as the ball is coming towards you.
Almost every vid of any good player, the player takes the racket halfway back, arms sorta wide, and has time to WAIT a partial second, then swings.

Yup, thanks for reminding me! I joined a pro am doubles event last december (for fun, my home club) and ended up losing in the 2nd round against a nationally ranked junior and his dad. Jeez the kid was hitting the cover off the ball! I was hitting almost every forehand sooo late, ended up sidelined for a couple weeks with a sore elbow. Gotta get that unit turn done faster. Any suggestions?

Just do as every ATP player does, left hand on throat, elbows apart, partial shoulder turn before the ball clears you net, wait a millisecond, then complete your backswing to the ball.
Agassi showed it really well.

Greg i have said since day 1 your strokes are great and i stand by it.i do like what you have done to improve, but in my opinion you are thinking too much and hence - late. Your prep just needs to happen sooner, but everything else is there. Just let it happen. If you just focus on prepping asap, the rest is going to flow for you.

Glad it helped you, but did you notice how all the top player he showed had their head tilted in and down a bit to contact? Whereas he kept his head very erect in his effort for upright posture? Imo there is a balance to be struck on these issues ....excuse the pun.

Interesting...so what did you like? Seems to me one of his main points was at 4mins and very wrong...as he says to focus on torquing the racket around into contact.

I do like what he said about learning it right from the start and letting go.

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I don't know. It does seem a bit off, but it just brought a better awareness that when it comes down to it, the contact area is the most critical part of the stroke. And when I compared it to my backhand, I didn't have as much of that quick action around contact, like the energy was dissipated before it. That realization and subsequent adjustment brought instant improvement, without even practicing it on court. When I got on court, my forehand was just ON. :shock:

Greg i have said since day 1 your strokes are great and i stand by it.i do like what you have done to improve, but in my opinion you are thinking too much and hence - late. Your prep just needs to happen sooner, but everything else is there. Just let it happen. If you just focus on prepping asap, the rest is going to flow for you.

Click to expand...

Yes I remember PP. Way back in page 3! I just have 1-2 hours per week of play now, so I have nothing but time to think :?

Glad it helped you, but did you notice how all the top player he showed had their head tilted in and down a bit to contact? Whereas he kept his head very erect in his effort for upright posture? Imo there is a balance to be struck on these issues ....excuse the pun.

Click to expand...

I agree with you on that, his was an exaggerated example- but if it wasn't he might not have gotten his point across to me. That particular exercise (leaning on wall) just got me to make a small adjustment which really made me feel more solid on the FH side. I think I need to hold the finish some more though, just to emphasize the balance.

Well as you may have noticed the action nowadays takes place in another thread, which stages an epic battle of legendary proportions.

Anyway, not bad at all. Sometimes a little late on your forehand, but some very nice shots, and despite a few too many lbs as you stated yourself, pretty decent court coverage. Also, not affraid to charge the net which is a good thing.

Thanks hawk eye. I think am hugging the baseline too much when I recover, which is why I get caught out by deep balls. Gotta work on that, and footwork/movement in general. Trying to break through this damned ceiling, feels like I've been stuck here forever.

i only watch the first video and the latest. looks like your moving a little better these days. i cant tell if your backhand is lendl or edberg. i think your backhand is a better shot that your forehand. pretty smooth when you are in position. looks nice...very classic. pretty nice looking serve as well. it reminds me of somebody but i cant put my finger on it. keep it up mate your looking good.

do you have some french blood in you? You play a little like a frenchie.

I noticed my thumb had been creeping up the back of the handle the past few weeks (lets me hit flatter), but it was getting a bit sore. Switched to a more hammer grip and got more range of motion. Got a bit more whip/topspin on it.

Latest practice footage. Had a bout of shankitis for a few weeks, I've mostly sorted it out now. Switched from the VCT89 to the VCT97 (310), just for a change, which is giving me a higher launch angle and a loopier ball. Backhands are less penetrating though.

Somehow somewhere it seems to have come together! Wider base helped stabilize the lower body. Shorter swing with more body than arm. Loose wrist, and now I sort of feel the "throwing action". Nice easy power.

Perhaps switching to a lighter racquet forced me to use more core? Whatever it is, I'm loving this Ai100.

I need to work on the running forehand, I still suck at hitting it on the dead run. And a bit more consistency, which is all tied in with early prep/footwork. But I'm pretty pleased it's come together like this. I can't put my finger on when the lightbulb moment came, it just did. And I'm starting to build confidence in the shot, and going for it more, whereas I was kind of passive/defensive with it in the past.

Been enjoying playing with the Sony Tennis Sensor. It gives pretty useful information...I can't say how accurate swing speeds are, but I like the fact that I have some sort of repeatable measurement I can use.

The sensor app also links to Sony Motion Shot, which automatically generates still sequences...it's like having toly in my phone!

The one thing that annoys me is the fact that I can't export video from the app...the best feature is the live motion capture with data! Hope they fix that in a future update.

Trying to break out of this plateau. Doing some drills emphasizing looseness and just letting the arm go, not particularly minding the results, more of the process. Technique wise, I think I'm nearing my limit, I think it's just a matter of getting more consistency and the fitness to always be in the right position (isn't that true for everybody).